66
Candice had also approached Luca and
used poison to eliminate Maxence, but her request at that time had been,
"I want to weaken him to the extent that it doesn't kill him." Its
effect was perfect, to the point that it wouldn't even be noticed as poison.
（Could Luca-oniisama have
perhaps…… researched poison in order to kill Maria-sama…… his own
mother?）
She
thought she might be overthinking it, but a heavy smack was heard,
followed by the sound of a chair and table collapsing.
「──Enough already, stop doing such
useless things!」
Hearing
Luca's voice, before Candice even had time to stop him, Arthur
stood up and dashed out.
「Arthur……!」
Although
she called his name in the loudest whisper she could manage, Arthur's
back disappeared from sight in the blink of an eye. She hurriedly chased after
him, but Arthur was standing with his arms spread wide in front of Luca.
「P-Please stop! Luca-oniisama
is not a failure or anything like that! He is a very kind person!」
「Arthur!? Didn't I tell you not to come out!」
「Arthur, you say!?」
Luca's mother's face contorted greatly
upon seeing Arthur. Just as one might think she was trembling with
anger, she let out a breath and then smiled sweetly.
「Ah, I see. Now it makes sense! The
reason you've started saying strange things recently was because of this child,
wasn't it.」
「No, Haha-ue! Arthur has
nothing to do with this!」
This
time, Luca hid Arthur behind his back as if to protect him. Maria
did not hide her true nature even in front of Arthur. It was probably
because she was looking at Arthur's position after all. The reason she
had been kind in front of Candice was likely because she was conscious
of Duke Radziwill backing Candice.
（Maria-sama wasn't looking at me, but at
the shadow of Ojiisama……）
As
an Imperial Princess, this kind of thing was an everyday occurrence, but
witnessing it firsthand like this gave her complicated feelings.
「Before, you were dressed filthily
like a rat, but recently I hear you're being doted on by Her Highness Candice,
Imperial Princess, or something like that……」
「……hk」
「Are you planning to seduce and
deceive Luca next, I wonder? You are quite arrogant, aren't you.」
「Haha-ue, please listen to what I
have to say!」
「Unforgivable. This is blasphemy
against God……!」
It
seemed Luca's voice was not reaching his mother's ears. Out of fear
toward Maria, Arthur gripped Luca's clothes, clinging to
his back.
「Where is that maid who is always
with you!? Let me talk to her. I have to tell her to never let you come near my
child again.」
「Haha-ue……」
「Having no backing and an unknown
birth…… You are nothing but filthy!」
Those
were the exact same words her past self had always used when making a fool of Arthur
and Hugo before time rewound. Having Arthur spoken ill of, Candice
felt a quiet anger. Now, she felt like she completely understood the reason why
her father had been irritated when she made a fool of Hugo, and the
reason why Jeanne had glared at Candice like that. Realizing anew
just how much she herself had hurt people, Candice's heart stung with
pain.
Candice quietly walked out from the place
she had been hiding. When she stepped forward as if to protect Luca and Arthur,
Maria's eyes widened greatly.
「Greetings, Maria-sama.」
「……Candice, Imperial
Princess-sama!? Why are you here?」
「It seems you were verbally abusing Luca-oniisama
quite a bit…… but to think that Maria-sama's mouth was so filthy, I am
so shocked that I almost want to tell Ojiisama about it!」
「Wha……!?」
「After all, it is completely
different from your usual appearance.」
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